On Thursday, Tina and I decided to take a ski lesson cause we both don’t know how to ski. It was a lot of fun. *gg* Actually, we weren’t too bad. I didn’t fall down and Tina only tried to go up the mountain once. *gg*
We met Kate on the mountain who was snowboarding. It was her third time on a snowboard so she was a lot better than us. =P She talked us into going up on tug lift…telling us that it took her 8 times before she didn’t fall off anymore. It wasn’t too bad either…I didn’t fall off. And we also managed the chair lifts without embarrassing falling down. =P
After the two hours lesson by a blonde German girl we stayed another two hours getting down the idiot’s hill (it’s the translation of the German word…we’re not very nice to people who can’t ski) by ourselves. Afterwards, my calves hurt. *lol* I can’t walk for shit in those boots.

We made our way to Turangi to an internet cafe so I could download the pictures for my uni crap that I finally got.
After an hour, we left there, going up the mountain on the other side this time to watch the sunset. We were slightly late but it was nice anyway. Tina had spotted a waterfall on the way up so we wanted to stop there on the way back. Which we did. Unfortunately, it was dark by now and neither of us had a torch. =P Was quite an experience…

Back home we washed all our stuff which took ages…in the meantime we talked and laughed a lot, being incredibly silly. When it was time to get the now dry laundry, I stepped on Tina’s laces from her boots and she nearly fell up the stairs. For some reason (because we already were really silly) we both had a laughing fit right there on the stairs. =P My stomach hurt afterwards…
Another fun part was that we had just put in all our washing and now discovered that we had put in the same stuff. Meaning from the same brand in the same size…another laughing fit while trying to find out which was which…we finally decided according to holes in it. =P

me…

…is not really looking good. =P

A rainbow on the way to Turangi =D (at least I think that was the name of the village..)

Awesome sign when we bought chocolate eclairs

Other side of the mountain…on the way to Turoa and the sunset

A bit too late

but still very nice

very pretty clouds as well

definitely sunburnt

waterfall from above =P

nice try…*LOL*

It was really freaking dark but you had a great view of the stars. =)

That was the best we managed of the waterfall =(

creative kiwis =D
Tina’s story of my time at her place
On Saturday, two lunatics could be seen on Mount Ruapehu. They were hiking up the mountain along a ski lift, and one of them (lunatic number 2) was even waving at the people on the lift. At the end of the lift, they wanted to hike a bit higher up. Therefore they continued climbing up the mountain, in the footsteps of their good-looking Canadian guide. Finally they arrived at the Crater Lake. While the guide was digging out a hut, they enjoyed the scenery and their lunch (they had declined the guide’s friendly offer to help with digging). After that rest, all three of them were still full of energy, so they climbed another summit.

Up there, the two lunatics were rather lost: “How do we get down again?” They ended up walking along a very narrow ridge and were happy enough that they were provided with harnesses and a rope. But hardly had they been untied… that they lost their guide. He could not bee seen anywhere, so they just followed his footsteps which made them sink in the snow up to their knees. Finally they spotted their guide on another ridge and shouted: “How did you get over there?” The very helpful answer: “Just walk!”

They reached the ridge and continued walking downhill… and the guide disappeared again! The two lunatics already thought he might have thrown himself over the ridge – he was quite desperate since none of the two lunatics was any good at alpine skiing. However, he reappeared about 100m further down and shouted: “Let’s do some bumsliding!” That was a rather steep bumslide… Lunatic number 1 lost control and skidded to the left and the right of the chosen path before she came to a halt in front of the guide’s feet. Lunatic number 2 was in fear of losing control as well and shouted: “If I can’t get round this bend, I will end up in these rocks and break my legs!” Another helpful answer: “Just slide down!” Lunatic number 2 said her final prayers and threw herself down the ridge. She was screaming so much that she could probably be heard on the other side of the mountain. Finally, she too came to a halt in front of the guide’s feet.

Some more bumslides followed, and then the two lunatics had to hike through deep snow… it went up to their knees. Snow was everywhere – in their shoes, on their trousers and even on the bare back of lunatic number 2 (no idea how it got there). After some time, they felt as if they had peed in their pants and all the pee had run down into their shoes to form small lakes down there. However, the two lunatics weren’t discouraged by that and “swam” the rest of the track before they finally reached another lift where they could finally sit down!

At the end of the lift, lunatic number 2 was nearly killed, but finally both lunatics managed to get back to a sealed road. After having found the car again, lunatic number 1 emptied the lake in her shoes on the road and made the rest of the journey in bare feet. Lunatic number 2 had to drive and preferred to do that with her shoes on, so she took the lake back home.

The two lunatics were quite happy to reach their accommodation in the leaking goat shed where they could finally get rid of all wet clothes. After having had a shower and dinner, they went to bed in their haystack and couldn’t be bothered to get up again until the next morning.
After having walked down the mountain (yes, yes), the two well-known lunatics decided it was high time they found another way to get down from a summit.

On Tuesday, they hired sledges, and the two big kids could be seen sliding around on the snow. Lunatic number 1 kept hitting the wall while lunatic number 2 managed to slide into the “SLOW” sign. Lunatic number 2 also managed to hit the only pole in the area… It was great fun, but maybe not a good way to get down from a summit.

So today, the two lunatics decided to take a ski lesson. Sure thing, there were some obstacles ahead… Lunatic number 2 was stuck in her ski shoes. She had to pull them off again, and lunatic number 1 had to help her. But finally, both lunatics managed to put their shoes on and walked out in the snow with the rest of the gear.

Let’s get started! They found the ski instructor. And figure that, the ski instructor was of course good-looking, but that was not enough… blond hair like mine… and then…
Ski instructor: “Where are you from?”
Me: “Germany.”
Ski instructor: “Oh, me too. Whereabouts in Germany?”
Me: “Black Forest.”
Ski instructor: “Me too.”

Haha, figure that, I went to Mount Ruapehu to be taught skiing by a blond girl from the Black Forest! My skiing twin, kind of. 😉

So now the two lunatics had to get the hang of skiing… They weren’t too bad (at least that’s what they thought), and after the lesson, they practised a bit on their own. Sure, there were some minor incidents…

Lunatic number 2 prefers going up mountains to going down, so naturally, she tried to ski up a hill. When she ended up with her skis above her head, she decided it might not be such a good idea because standing up was so hard. Lunatic number 2 also fell off the plate-thing lift but both lunatics managed the normal chairlift alright. And hey, the mountain is still there, and no-one was injured, so what!

Needless to say, after having been up the mountain a couple of times, our faces are… quite red!

Yesterday, the two lunatics decided to watch the sunset on the other side of the mountain. It was quite beautiful, since they were the only ones up there. After sunset-watching and moon-gazing, they started driving back down.

After a few kilometres, lunatic number 2 said: “Hey, let’s stop here, I have seen some waterfalls.” It was already quite dark, so the walk to the viewing platform was more of a nightwalk.
Lunatic number 1: “Do you have a torch?”
Lunatic number 2: “Yes. Back at home.”
So they stumbled through the darkness, but managed to find the viewpoint. Unfortunately, all photos merely showed a dark part and a white part (the mountain), but what. They stumbled back to the car and drove further down to Ohakune, where they had dinner.

After having returned back home, both lunatics needed to wash their clothes. Extreme washing and extreme drying took until midnight… when they walked back to their room with their dry clothes, lunatic number 2 fell up the stairs and wondered why… until she realised that lunatic number 1 had stepped on her shoelaces!!

Yeah yeah I am usually too lazy to tie my laces for 20 metres… Suppose that should teach me, but somehow I don’t think it will.
And just because I nearly died laughing reading this and made a complete idiot out of myself in an internet cafe
Ohlalalala…

Hardly had lunatic number 1 gone back to Wellington that lunatic number 2 felt kind of lonely… Not for long, though. When she came back from an extended trip to the train station (train approximately two hours late), two drinking mates were waiting for her! 😉 After thinking for a long time about who would have to drive to the pub and back, the three drinkers finally agreed to stay at home and drink there, especially since they could get all the alcohol for free.

They started with some Quick Fucks, but well, shots are shots. Then they tried mixing cocktails, but that wasn’t really a success. Martini was first on the list since no-one really knew how to make one. Drinker one was convinced that it was just Martini and ice – that’s what she had once served to a customer. The other two didn’t really know how to mix a Martini either but knew that something had to be added – why else would James Bond insist on shaken not stirred? Finally, they found out that gin was the missing ingredient. However, no-one liked the martini. How can James Bond drink that stuff all the time? The drinkers tried another cocktail, the something wallbanger (can’ remember the name), but they didn’t like that one either. I wanted to have a Sex on the Beach (my favourite cocktail), but we didn’t have all the ingredients. And no recipe, come to think of it. So finally, we settled on the “normal” drinks… There were lots of bottles in the bin afterwards… And hardly any Chardonnay, Tui and KGB left in the house. 🙂

The three drinkers then went on talking about everything and nothing, life in general and in particular, decided to run up to the Cater Lake and whatever… until they finally thought they might be better off going to bed because they had to work the next day.

Your drinking sheep (no, I am not the one who forgot the gin in the Martini) had to crawl down to her little hut… my God… I looked up at the stars and couldn’t find the Southern Cross… I thought that might be because the moon was shining so brightly… yeah right… not even a quarter… and you know that things are pretty serious when you are staring at a lantern and think it’s the moon!!!! At least I realised at some stage it was a lantern.

I was actually not in a state to go anywhere, but well, I still had to brush my teeth. So I went back to the bathrooms… or so I thought, but I must have missed a bend and just walked straight on until I hit something. It turned out to be the skipbin. Must have been that wallbanger cocktail. I finally found the bathrooms and even made my way back to bed.

Didn’t feel that bad today… until a guest came in and called me by my name… I thought I remembered his name as well and said “Hello Persil.” He answered: “My name is Sunil.” Ooooops. Right, I knew it was a washing powder.

But now, I am fit as a fiddle. Might even go for a short run to the Crater Lake. 🙂